St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Prayer Card - (Founder of Catholic Schools) (PC-36)
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PC-36 — St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Prayer Card — Founder of Catholic Schools
The first American saint — who crossed the Atlantic thirty times for the love of God and immigrants
She was born two months premature in 1850 in Lombardy, Italy, the youngest of thirteen children, and spent much of her life in fragile health. She dreamed of going to China as a missionary. Instead, Pope Leo XIII looked at this small, determined Italian woman and told her: "Not to the East, but to the West." He sent her to New York City to minister to the thousands of Italian immigrants living in poverty, prejudice, and spiritual neglect — and she obeyed without hesitation.
What followed was one of the most extraordinary works of Catholic institution-building in American history. In 35 years, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini founded 67 institutions dedicated to caring for the poor, the abandoned, the uneducated, and the sick — schools, orphanages, hospitals, and social service centers across the United States, Latin America, and Europe. She crossed the Atlantic Ocean more than thirty times despite a lifelong fear of water. She became a naturalized American citizen in 1909. She died on December 22, 1917, in Chicago — reportedly while wrapping Christmas candy for children in her hospital — and was canonized in 1946 by Pope Pius XII, becoming the first United States citizen to be recognized by the Catholic Church as a saint.
Her schools educated generations of immigrant children who might otherwise have had no education at all. Her hospitals cared for the sick when no one else would. Her orphanages gave dignity to children abandoned on the streets. And her witness — that faith, charity, and fearless determination can move mountains — continues to inspire the Church in America to this day. Her feast day is November 13th.
Perfect for: Catholic school communities, immigrant ministry, Italian-American Catholics, hospital and healthcare workers, November 13th feast day, and anyone who serves the marginalized with joy and determination.